Council approves Habitat for Humanity housing

The city will transfer two properties it acquired through tax foreclosures to Habitat for Humanity, which will use the parcels to build affordable homes for first-time buyers.

The City Council voted Tuesday to approve workforce community partnerships for two small parcels at 26 Cherry St., and 195 Division St. In the coming months, Habitat for Humanity, with help from the Saratoga Builders Association and Rebuilding Together Saratoga County, will design and build homes on the sites for families who earn between $30,800 to $46,200.

The two properties were part of 30 mostly vacant lots the city took ownership of last year because the owners defaulted on taxes. City officials examined them for reuse, and proposed dedicating the Cherry and Division street parcels to affordable housing.

The Habitat for Humanity projects will come at no cost to the city, which has recovered all back taxes on the foreclosed properties.

“I think the value at this point is getting those properties back on the city and school tax rolls,” said Finance Commissioner Michele Madigan, a major backer of the deal.

The City Council is expected to finalize a contract with Habitat for Humanity on July 16. The nonprofit organization will organize the building projects. The Saratoga Builders Association has pledged to cover 50 percent of material and labor costs, according to city officials.

Builders will construct a single-family home on the vacant Division Street lot. A dilapidated structure on the Cherry Street property will come down to make space for what could be a duplex.

Construction could start in the late-summer and end next spring. Habitat for Humanity will select owners for the homes through an application process. Members of the City Council said the projects responded to a community need.

2 Responses

The very polices that the democrats on the council propose are the reason for the dearth of affordable housing. Mainly runaway spending, that will drive up property taxes down the road. Making people pay for the services that “THEY DEMAND”. The only people demanding these services are transplants who left their own communities because of fears of diversity and having neighbors of a lower individual socioeconomic status than themselves.You know poor people.

The problem isn’t the modest mortgage; it’s rising property taxes. Most Habitat homeowners pay more in property taxes and insurance than they do to pay off their mortgages. Rising property taxes have truly made it almost impossible for many of them to stay in their homes in high assessed communities like Saratoga Springs.
Habitat for Humanity has launched a campaign to persuade localities to provide tax relief for their homeowners. It is arguing that the Habitat homes shouldn’t be assessed at market rates because deed restrictions prevent their owners from selling the homes for profit or getting home equity loans until the 20-year mortgages are paid. If Habitat homeowners sell their homes before 20 years are up, they must sell them back to Habitat for the amount they cost — $80,000 to $120,000 in most cases, which is the restricted value.